Help HTC Majic GPS

[dslamb]

Hello all,

I am in the beginning phases of a project, and am researching hardware components to place in the budget. I'm curious to know if the HTC Majic GPS works regardless of network coverage. The project will be based in an area with spotty coverage, but the GPS is pretty important. I know that there is an internal GPS antenna, but I read a review that said network assisted GPS, and wasn't sure if this meant the GPS was dependant on network coverage.

Thank you in advance.

Cheers,
David

 

[Mansn]

As far as I know the Magic has AGPS, which stands for Assisted GPS. According to wikipedia:

Assisted GPS, generally abbreviated as A-GPS, enhances the startup performance of a GPS satellite-based positioning system. It is used extensively with GPS-capable cellular phones as its development was accelerated by the U.S. FCC's 911 mandate making the location of a cell phone available to emergency call dispatchers.[1]

So, AGPS only speeds up the location finding. If you are not near a network, then the A part of the system won't work and the Magic will take a little longer to lock onto your signal.

 

[paloverde88]

yes the magic has A GPS and the Magic appears to lock on to GPS satellites very quickly, I tried it inside my car and it took only seconds!

The GPS itself and apps that need GPS is not network dependent, however, to build the map itself requires data from the network so you still need to have a network data plan.

Unlike Nokia maps, google map is build as you move along using data, so that could consume alot of data unless there are some apps out there that stores the map itself like Nokia map.

 

[dslamb]

Thank you both for your responses.

 

[grimmy]

Unlike Nokia maps, google map is build as you move along using data, so that could consume alot of data unless there are some apps out there that stores the map itself like Nokia map.

AndNav2 has the option to pre-load map data.